I like Sergio Martinez. I think he's strong, he's gritty, he's got plenty of heart, he's not the fanciest guy you might have seen in boxing but he has the goods to be around a long time in the Middleweight division.

The only thing I can do is be right about what I say. Because I know I'm being watched. I understand what I'm facing. All I can do is put the work behind it.

I was knocking guys out in the streets before I knew how to throw a jab and keep your chin down, In most neighbourhoods, the guy that could fight gets respect. You got in the parties free. I never had to pay the dollar because people were scared of me. But back then I was ignorant.

I've got a history of frustrating guys and making them angry.

Anybody who thinks I'm taking this fight for a paycheck doesn't know me. My whole life I've been achieving the impossible.

You think it's hard for me when I go in the ring and fight? That's the least of my problems. I think about the five years that I did in prison. I think about the nine years on parole. Nothing - nothing! - can compare to that struggle. I'm telling you, from being an ex-convict with 30 convictions, a degree nowhere to be found and black? I'm done.

The only way you can get experience is from the clock. Time works with some people and against some people. Fortunately, the clock has worked in my favor.